hahnmeister
In Memoriam
Sorry, been a busy day.
The HQI spec is a newer international standard that is AKA M80 for 250wattDE bulbs. It is perhaps the highest grade halide ballast you can buy. The bulbs are designed to be run at a higher current, for higher output, with higher pressure in the bulbs. The result is longer life, more lumens/watt, less color shifting, etc. AND, it also means that the bulbs can be run in a horizontal manner w/o the inner arc depositing the halides on the outer wall of the bulb. Almost all SE bulbs are low pressure, american standard, probe start halides. They dont last as long, have the color life, or the output of a DE bulb. I know people running 250wattDE bulbs for 3 years, easily... you would never get an SE bulb to last that long and still be functional.
Another thing is to match up bulbs with ballast. Simply running a 250wattSE bulb on a HQI ballast is like running a car on jet-fuel. It will have a short, but glorious life... then die. 250watt HQI ballasts might as well be named 300watt ballasts, to help differentiate them from regular 250s like 150s are different from 175s. Underdriving a halide bulb is just as bad as overdriving, and for this reason, HQI ballasts are the best choice for DE bulbs. Electronic ballasts do better at prolonging the otherwise short lives of probe-start SE bulbs, but on pulse-start DE bulbs, they dont get the job done. After time, the gases in the tube that are not excited into making light instead deposit themselves on the outer wall of the tube... burning. This not only takes their potential output from the bulb, but also blocks the output of the remaining gasses. Underdriving is just as bad as overdriving.
As for 'cheaping out'... dont do it. If anything, buy one now, and the other later. Those ebay ballasts are cheap M58 ballasts... US spec probe start ballasts designed to run low-pressure SE bulbs. They are often the same ballasts that end up humming like mad... the ones you see in those 'high-bay' bell pendants at the local warehouse or 'big box' stores. They tend to burn bulbs faster, and often yellow bluer bulbs much faster.
The best matchups are SE bulbs with e-ballasts and DE bulbs with HQI ballasts. In the future, you will start to see less and less SE bulbs, as more companies are switching to the better spec 100%. Most of the newer, better bulbs are DE format. Also, some of the best bulbs you can get in 250wattDE are getting dirt cheap... pheonix 14,000K for $55, Ushio 14,000K or EVC 10,000-14,000-20,000K bulbs for $60-65. CoralVue Reeflux 10,000K and 12,000Ks... (I can get those for $50 each).
Good SE bulbs are getting harder and harder to find. Most german/EU companies dont even bother with them anymore (Giesemann, Tunze, Elos, Fauna-Marin... etc). The ballast and reflectors might cost more, but the bulbs are getting plentiful and cheaper every month it seems.
I wont even touch mogul bulbs FWIW... just not worth it.
You can skimp on the reflectors for now... get the $30 ones right now if you want (and you have a canopy to mount them in). They wont be as bright, er rather.. well distributed as the lumenarcs (they will spotlight more... be less spread out), but they can get you by. That woud bring down your cost to $130x2 for ballasts, $55-60 x 2 for bulbs, and $60 in reflectors. Then you can upgrade the reflectors later. I just figure, if its a matter of you know you are going to buy them anyways, why waste the $60 now?
As for actinics, with 20,000Ks you wont need them, no. If anything, I would consider a daylight bulb for some supplimental daylight... lol... some 20,000Ks are very blue/purple and little of anything else. I like the EVCs... tons of actinic and blue... but a good PAR and some good daylight output as well. I consider it a very complete bulb.
OR... there is still the T5 option... that would be my pick for a 75g.... either a 6x54 or 8x54watt setup... Im tellin you... you corals might need a 90g to keep from melting...lol.
The HQI spec is a newer international standard that is AKA M80 for 250wattDE bulbs. It is perhaps the highest grade halide ballast you can buy. The bulbs are designed to be run at a higher current, for higher output, with higher pressure in the bulbs. The result is longer life, more lumens/watt, less color shifting, etc. AND, it also means that the bulbs can be run in a horizontal manner w/o the inner arc depositing the halides on the outer wall of the bulb. Almost all SE bulbs are low pressure, american standard, probe start halides. They dont last as long, have the color life, or the output of a DE bulb. I know people running 250wattDE bulbs for 3 years, easily... you would never get an SE bulb to last that long and still be functional.
Another thing is to match up bulbs with ballast. Simply running a 250wattSE bulb on a HQI ballast is like running a car on jet-fuel. It will have a short, but glorious life... then die. 250watt HQI ballasts might as well be named 300watt ballasts, to help differentiate them from regular 250s like 150s are different from 175s. Underdriving a halide bulb is just as bad as overdriving, and for this reason, HQI ballasts are the best choice for DE bulbs. Electronic ballasts do better at prolonging the otherwise short lives of probe-start SE bulbs, but on pulse-start DE bulbs, they dont get the job done. After time, the gases in the tube that are not excited into making light instead deposit themselves on the outer wall of the tube... burning. This not only takes their potential output from the bulb, but also blocks the output of the remaining gasses. Underdriving is just as bad as overdriving.
As for 'cheaping out'... dont do it. If anything, buy one now, and the other later. Those ebay ballasts are cheap M58 ballasts... US spec probe start ballasts designed to run low-pressure SE bulbs. They are often the same ballasts that end up humming like mad... the ones you see in those 'high-bay' bell pendants at the local warehouse or 'big box' stores. They tend to burn bulbs faster, and often yellow bluer bulbs much faster.
The best matchups are SE bulbs with e-ballasts and DE bulbs with HQI ballasts. In the future, you will start to see less and less SE bulbs, as more companies are switching to the better spec 100%. Most of the newer, better bulbs are DE format. Also, some of the best bulbs you can get in 250wattDE are getting dirt cheap... pheonix 14,000K for $55, Ushio 14,000K or EVC 10,000-14,000-20,000K bulbs for $60-65. CoralVue Reeflux 10,000K and 12,000Ks... (I can get those for $50 each).
Good SE bulbs are getting harder and harder to find. Most german/EU companies dont even bother with them anymore (Giesemann, Tunze, Elos, Fauna-Marin... etc). The ballast and reflectors might cost more, but the bulbs are getting plentiful and cheaper every month it seems.
I wont even touch mogul bulbs FWIW... just not worth it.
You can skimp on the reflectors for now... get the $30 ones right now if you want (and you have a canopy to mount them in). They wont be as bright, er rather.. well distributed as the lumenarcs (they will spotlight more... be less spread out), but they can get you by. That woud bring down your cost to $130x2 for ballasts, $55-60 x 2 for bulbs, and $60 in reflectors. Then you can upgrade the reflectors later. I just figure, if its a matter of you know you are going to buy them anyways, why waste the $60 now?
As for actinics, with 20,000Ks you wont need them, no. If anything, I would consider a daylight bulb for some supplimental daylight... lol... some 20,000Ks are very blue/purple and little of anything else. I like the EVCs... tons of actinic and blue... but a good PAR and some good daylight output as well. I consider it a very complete bulb.
OR... there is still the T5 option... that would be my pick for a 75g.... either a 6x54 or 8x54watt setup... Im tellin you... you corals might need a 90g to keep from melting...lol.
nothing good about it.......... The twin cities is a bit of a drive now days lol.
